Friends,

This Sunday is our Kickoff Sunday! This is when all our normal programming comes back to life, and this year we have a lot of new offerings. Elsewhere in the e-news you can find specifics, and I will resist the urge to go in-depth with each program, as I will not do as good of a job as Stephanie! Just know, that regardless of your age and interest, there will almost certainly be something for you. At 9:00 am there will be an open house with our offerings, where you can go and explore what is available and learn the ropes a little bit.

I obviously, am not in each class; however, I get the sense that we have a good track record of making our offerings for children engaging and loving. With that being said, I am sure plenty of kids drag their feet when their parents compel them to go. Even when that happens, I earnestly believe that they know the teachers are glad to see them, and they want to make Sunday School a loving, enjoyable and meaningful experience for them.

When I think about my own experience with Sunday School and reflect on stories from other clergy, I am often curious why so many of us had distinctly negative memories of our childhood Christian formation. For me, I didn’t realize how much I was learning in our mandatory Wednesday night classes. The Church I grew up in was very strict, attendance was taken, the teachers were harsh, and I dreaded those classes. However, when I started to take scripture classes in college, I realized that I had more of a foundation than my peers who grew up in the Episcopal Church. Recalling the various stories about Abraham, Jesus’s sermons and miracles, and the weird bits in John’s Revelation was second nature to me, while it was new information for my classmates.

Other stories I heard from my peers in Seminary is classes taught by burnt out Episcopal Priests who dispassionately read the catechism to them when it was time to be confirmation. Regardless, if our affliction was caused by stern teachers, rigid structures, or apathy, I clearly see the common factor being a lack of relationship and joy. I remember when I started to like Church, a major component was the fact that an adult seemed to be thankful that I was there. I felt seen and valued, which is what me as a 16-year-old needed, while I was trying to rebel against anything that felt like structure.

We need to start there. Everyone from the children in the nursery, through adults in the Forum need to feel known and valued. The leaders of our programs can exemplify this mentality, and the staff can go out of their way to talk to someone who hasn’t found their place yet, but these efforts will be in vain if we do not make valuing others part of our culture. The first time I went to St. Luke’s, no one knew I was a priest, and I felt like a stranger in a strange land. It felt like forever until someone spoke to me at the coffee hour after Church, but it was probably just a few minutes. I am still thankful that Sue Hazen took the time to make me feel known in the Church that just over a year later would be my home.

We start with knowing and loving people, then we build around that. I am so thankful that I grew up with our sacred stories bouncing around my head, but the stories didn’t feel alive until I found something that felt like Christian Community. Sitting in that cinderblock room of the 1960’s Church hashing out the implications, nuances, and wisdom of the stories with the few others my age and a couple of adults to help guide the conversation made the stories feel alive. We cannot force the next generation to share our faith. We can force our children to go to classes and to learn scripture, but we should not mistake knowledge with faith. We start with letting each other know that we are known and valued, and then we teach so the scripture and our faith can come alive, rather than be an intellectual exercise.

I hope you join us on Sunday, and you find yourself known and valued as our brother or sister in Christ.

Blessings,

Nick